National Football League fans gather in downtown Tampa before the Super Bowl LV during the COVID-19 pandemic on January 30, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.
Octavio Jones | Getty Images
Super Bowl Sunday is a great day for football – and restaurants.
But the networks that are likely to benefit most from feeding hungry fans have seen sales soar during the coronavirus pandemic.
Only Thanksgiving Day surpasses the Super Bowl on Sunday as the biggest culinary holiday, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. The big game drew more than 100 million viewers last year. Non-football fans tune in to the NFL championship to see interesting commercials, a fun show at break, and food scattered at parties.
For Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut, Super Bowl Sunday is the busiest day of the year. Domino’s Pizza delivers about 2 million pies that day, a 30% increase over a normal Sunday. Fat Brands, owner of Hurricane Grill & Wings, Buffalo’s Cafe and Buffalo’s Express, sells half a million chicken wings on Super Bowl Sundays. For Wingstop, it is among the first five days of annual sales.
During the pandemic, pizza and chicken wings were the staples of the Americans’ quarantine diet. Both are known to travel well, and the top players in the categories have been working to make their food more convenient for years.
In the fourth quarter, Pizza Hut reported same-store sales growth of 8% in the US. Domino’s saw same-store sales growth in the U.S. reach double digits during the second and third quarters. And Wingstop, which was already outpacing sales growth for the rest of the industry before the crisis, reported that its same-store sales increased by 25% in the third quarter.
“If what we’ve just experienced in the past 12 months is any indication – outperforming the industry in sales – we expect it to continue this Sunday,” said Brian Gies, director of global marketing at Church’s Chicken.
Church’s Chicken, which serves boneless chicken and wings, launched its Texas Tenders’ N Shrimp meal in time for this year’s Super Bowl to capitalize on that demand. The menu item was created to attract customers who observe Lent, which does not start until February 17th.
Wingstop CEO Charlie Morrison said through a spokesman that the company still expects strong sales for the big game. Compared to previous years, however, the chicken wing chain can receive more orders and a lower average of checks due to the small size of the meetings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended minimizing guest lists to attend parties and hold celebrations outdoors or virtually.
“I think it’s going to be a great weekend for us and I think sales are going to come out of the charts,” said Fat Brands CEO Andy Wiederhorn.
Supply chains under pressure
The pandemic has also resulted in supply chain challenges for restaurant companies awaiting a busy Super Bowl. Prices for mozzarella cheese are on the rise, which will hit the profits of the pizza chains. For the first week of February, Wisconsin wholesale prices for a pound of mozzarella cheese rose to $ 2.70, according to the US Department of Agriculture report released on Wednesday. In February 2019, mozzarella prices averaged around $ 2.15 per pound.
The chicken wing chains are under even greater pressure. Wholesale prices are on the rise and restaurant operators are reporting shortages.
Wiederhorn said the company generally sees a tight supply at this time of year.
“The only time it was not a battle was when McDonald’s entered the chicken wings business, as it did seven or eight years ago, and failed miserably. They threw all wings on the market because they had to get rid of them,” he said. Wiederhorn said.
As a result, Fat Brands starts planning its Super Bowl wing orders a year in advance. But the supply problem is particularly serious this year, as a result of outbreaks in refrigerators and increased demand for chicken wings driven by increased delivery sales for the category. Fat Brands is bringing some frozen chicken wings to complement its usual supply of fresh wings.